‘True Detective’ Creator Says ‘I Have Another Story’ for Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson to Return: ‘We’ve Talked About Doing It. I Think the Guys Are Open to It’

“True Detective” creator Nic Pizzolatto recently appeared on the “Nothing Left Unsaid” podcast and revealed he has an idea for a new story that would bring back the characters of Rust Cohle and Marty Harty, memorably played by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in the first season of HBO’s anthology series. Many viewers (and McConaughey himself) still regard “True Detective” Season 1 as the show’s best. The 2014 season earned Emmy nominations for both actors.

“I actually have another story for Cohle and Hart that — who knows? — maybe we’ll do it one day,” Pizzolatto said. “It’s character-based again. … But it’s not something I’ve written or anything. It’s just, I had that in my head. And we’ve talked about getting back together and doing it, and I think the guys are open to it. It’s just a question of whether that would ever happen or not.”

McConaughey and Harrelson remained close in the years after “True Detective” and are currently starring together as fictionalized versions of themselves in an upcoming Apple TV+ comedy series. McConaughey has always spoken fondly about making “True Detective,” telling Variety earlier this year that he adores his episodes.

“My favorite season — and I feel like I can say this objectively — is Season 1,” he said. “I happen to be in that one, so I thought that was incredible, incredible television and a great series. I watched it weekly, like everyone else, on Sunday night, and that was an event for me. And I got to sit back and enjoy that. I loved the water cooler talk on Monday morning. Even though I made it, I sort of forgot what was going to happen next. It was one of the great events in TV.”

Pizzolatto returned for “True Detective” Season 2, headlined by Rachel McAdams, Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn, but the episodes were savaged by film critics. A third season, fronted by Mahershala Ali, proved more favorable in 2017. Pizzolatto was not involved in the show’s fourth season, “True Detective: Night Country,” starring Jodie Foster and created by Issa Lopez.

“I was the one who walked away from my contract at the end of 2019,” Pizzolatto said on the podcast about his franchise exit. “I believe if I had given them a good script for another season of ‘True Detective,’ I believe they would have gone for it. But I myself was spiritually tired of walking in that much darkness. And dealing with such dark materials. And then I got full custody of my daughter back and that was a situation where I really needed to be a father… and I had to step away from a lot of work in 2020.”

Pizzolatto said that he was the one who took himself out of the “True Detective” equation, so it was “right and appropriate” for HBO to move on without him for Season 4. The network is now developing a fifth season of “True Detective” with “Night Country’s” Lopez returning as showrunner.